Mr Robot: Conversion
by Novel Books
Summary: Elliot navigates life post-five/nine and decides whether or not to turn himself in. Also, the scary men in suits are back. K for dark atmosphere and a brief smoking scene. Takes place after Alexa Ann Douglas' Civil War Part One and around/just before the beginning of Alexa Ann Douglas' Civil War Part Two. PLEASE R&R!
1. Prologue

Let me introduce myself.

Who am I? It depends on who you ask. And when.

To Allsafe, I'm employee #ER280652. Just a regular cybersecurity engineer. By night, I'm nothing.

Ask fsociety? Well, by day I am nothing. I'm a vigilante hacker by night, taking out unscrupulous characters and taking on the big guys. The top 1% of the 1%. Those who live in riches by keeping us in rags. Ever wonder why so few have so much, while so many have so little? It's because of THEM.

But I am also Mr. Robot. An incarnation of my father originated in my head. When I am Mr. Robot, I can do what I otherwise couldn't do I created a team of hackers sick of corporate greed. I led the largest cyberattack the world has ever seen. Fsociety single-handedly wiped out every penny ever owed Evil Corp., Allsafe's biggest customer. And I led them.

I am Elliot. This is my story


	2. R3ADM3

Hello everyone, this is Riley A. Chester, author of Novel Books. I just would like to state a few things, to clear up any confusion:

1\. Whenever you see words that are underlined, that's Elliot breaking the fourth wall. Please tell me you're seeing this too.

2\. The events of this book take after/towards the end of Alexa Ann Douglas' book Civil War Part One.

3\. The events of this book also take place after Season 1 of Mr. Robot; however, not everything that was in Season 1 happened in this book, most importantly 1) Dom isn't on the case yet 2) None of the fsociety members got arrested. However, the FBI busted their old headquarters after they had gone (and they'd left nothing behind), so they had to relocate.

Enjoy! (If you want.)

And also, please read and review. (Also if you want.)


	3. tr0jan

Elliot Alderson awoke to the sound of the doorbell ringing. He looked at his digital clock groggily. It read 8:41 A.M.. He bolted up, grabbed a T-shirt and dashed out his room and through the living room toward the door, hurriedly putting his shirt on. This is the day of another fsociety meeting. We meet in an old warehouse every few days to talk about new stages of our plan.

"I'm coming!" Elliot shouted as he opened the door. A shorter woman with heavy eyeliner on came through the door. That's Darlene. I think she's my sister. She stops by before we head over to an fsociety meeting.

"What are you doing?" Darlene asked. "We're gonna be late."

"Sorry. I just woke up." Elliot replied.

"What's the next stage?" Darlene asked. "What are we doing next?"

"I'll let you know when we get to Rubel Corp." He answered.

"Ooh, sounds mysterious." Darlene grinned. "Let's go. I'll give you a ride."

Elliot and Darlene walked up the old Rubel Corp. building. It's a fitting site. Samuel Rubel got rich buying off competing companies, becoming a millionaire. Now, his building is in ruins. A sign of what's to come. Elliot opened the door and let Darlene in behind him. The room was poorly lit, with only one overhead light and a couple of lamps in the corners. Mobley, a chubby bearded man with glasses was setting up a PC on the only desk. He glanced up.

"Hey Elliot." He said.

"Hi." Elliot turned away. I don't do small talk. At least not very well.

An Iranian woman in a hijab sat in an old cushioned chair, sipping sparkling water. Trenton's always sipping sparkling water. Don't know why.

Elliot ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

"Elliot!" A familiar voice rang through Elliot's head.

Furiously, Elliot turned to his left and saw a balding middle-aged man with a small beard wearing a scarf around his neck. That's Mr. Robot. A figment of my imagination. He's the one who comes up with a lot of ideas for fsociety. And he looks exactly like my dead father.

"I told you to leave me alone!" Elliot hissed.

"Well, that ended in a stalemate." Mr. Robot whispered. "You can't ignore me."

"What do you want?" Elliot asked.

"Nothing. I'm going to give fsociety their next mission."

Mr. Robot walked into the center of the room. All eyes were on him as he began revealing his plan. "Let's all give ourselves a nice round of applause for our work in the 5/9 attack."

Everyone clapped and grinned at each other.

"Today," Mr. Robot said. "Today we open a new chapter in fsociety. We pretty much destroyed Evil Corp. Their reputation is in tatters. Nobody trusts them. We have started a revolution. Do you want to take it to the next level?"

"Yes!" Trenton said.

"I said, do you want to take it to the next level!" Mr. Robot shouted.

"YES!" The other members said.

"I have a new plan to finalize the end of the evil world capitalist system as we know it." Mr. Robot said. "We need to destroy Wall Street. The stock market."

"The New York Stock Exchange?" Mobley asked. "How?"

"The Stock Exchange has two data centers: one in Mahwah, New Jersey, and the other one's in Basildon, in the UK." Mr. Robot explained. "If we can shut them down, the evil corporate money-grabbing will be forced to end. Now, we can't access the UK site remotely, but if we can operate a DDoS attack on Basildon while shutting down the Mahwah center, Wall Street will be done."

The whole team was silent as the pondered the magnitude of his words.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Darlene asked.

"How can we do this without getting caught?" Mobley asked.

Fear. They're all afraid. That we'll get in trouble or something. Nothing good comes of fear. Name one man who changed the world through fear, who made Earth a better place by inaction. You can't.

"All we need to do is infiltrate the computer systems in Mahwah." Mr. Robot replied. "Set it up so that with the press of a button from our end, their system will literally destroy itself."

Darlene smiled.

"Come on, man." Mobley said. "Wall Street? Sounds a bit unrealistic, if you ask me. How will we get into the systems?"

"We can use whatever method you like best. Hot mixtapes, click jacking, social engineering." Mr. Robot answered. "It's your choice if you want to be part of this. You all have a week to make up your minds. Hit me up on the IRC once you've made up your minds." He walked out the door and closed it noiselessly behind himself.

"Let's go," Darlene announced. "I'll be back tomorrow to help set up everything." She told fsociety.

Elliot followed Darlene without a word. They walked out the door and put on his hood angrily. They walked to the parking lot and got in Darlene's car.

"Cool plan." Darlene said as he maneuvered the car out of the parking lot.

"It's not all that spectacular." Elliot said. He looked out the window. Every hack or coding project always starts this way. Get a vague idea of what you want to do, then narrow down how you want to do it and get out all the errors and obstacles that stand in your way.

Darlene shook here head. "You are really something."

Elliot opened the door and went into his house.

He opened a canister of fish food and tapped some gently into Qwerty's tank. He's one of my friends. I like to think he understands me better than anyone.

Better than Mr. Robot.

Mr. Robot.

Elliot instinctively looked around. He's not here now. That's the scariest thing about him: he's inconsistent.

Well, so am I.

Elliot walked over to his desktop and sat down at his desk. He powered on the machine. Kali Linux is my favorite OS. It's based off Debian and runs the GNOME interface. It's cool because it comes with a lot of neat hacking tools that I use on a daily basis.

Elliot started typing in his password, but paused as a subtle noise came from the corner and glanced over his left shoulder. He slowly hit enter and turned around in his chair very slowly. He saw a silhouette of a man sitting in the rocking chair, but it was hard to make out any discerning features in the darkened room.

"Bonjour, Elliot." The man said.

Elliot bolted up and instinctively took a couple steps back. "Who are YOU?" Elliot burst out.

The man stood up, and his facial features became plain as he was right next to the closed window blinds. He was a slightly shorter man, and obviously aging, as he had a large bald spot above his forehead, and both smile lines and worry lines were teased about his face. He was wearing a suit, and an ID tag hung over his breast pocket.

"How do you know my name?" Elliot asked wonderingly.

"We know a lot more than your name." The man sat down and folded his arms.

"Who are you?"

"Phil Coulson, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I recruit people with amazing abilities who can do great things for this country."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll be blunt: you're an amazing hacker. We have a big problem on our hands, and if you can incite riots, you can help us."

Elliot shook his head. This is typical government, friend. They create a story. A narrative. Something they want you to believe.

Why should I trust him?

"Why should I trust you?" Elliot asked.

"Because I'm going to let you hack me." Phil replied.

"WHAT?"

"You heard me." Phil said. He nodded to the laptop Elliot had left on the table. "You have five minutes. Hack me."

Elliot sat down on the old, plaid couch, snatched up the laptop and powered on the laptop. Like his desktop, it too ran Kali Linux. One pro tip, my friend: for every machine you have, use different usernames and passwords for each account. Elliot typed in his username and password. If someone hacks you, they'll only get access to that one account and won't have control of your entire digital life.

But I digress. Here, I'm going to scan the Bluetooth activity of Phil's phone and slip in some malware disguised as a security update, forcing it to install instantly. Ubertooth One is what I use for this kind of thing; it can send and retrieve Bluetooth packets. He opened bash and typed "hcitool scan." A list of nearby Bluetooth devices appeared on the screen. Phil's phone showed up as "S.H.I.E.L.D SP 1093442" and had the MAC address of 88047213. Elliot typed "ubertooth-btle -a 88047213." Elliot saw that Phil's phone was connected to his ID tag and constantly communicating with it. Interesting, but not what I came here for. I don't have much time. Elliot quickly changed his MAC address to "37189420" and his computer name to "USA_PHIL_CLSN" to match Phil's tag info. His device was instantly paired because Phil's phone still trusted the connection and sent the file "0.000 . .zip" to Phil's phone.

"Time's up." Phil got up.

"Phil?" Elliot asked.

"Yes?" Phil replied.

"What is this really about? Nobody just lets me hack them."

"Then you should be grateful."

"No, that's not what I mean." Elliot shook his head. "What do you really want me to do? Don't beat around the bush. You could just be trying to make me incriminate myself."

"You already have." Phil sighed. "The truth is, I'd love to tell you. You're a trustworthy person. But unfortunately, my word alone doesn't carry with S.H.I.E.L.D.; they demand proof, so I'm giving it to them."

"How will I reach you? Let you know I hacked you successfully?"

"You know how." Phil answered cryptically. He opened the back door, then turned. "One more thing; visit your little fsociety over that IRC of yours and cancel that absurd project of destroying Wall Street. You'll have your hands full with what I have in store for you.

Your days of effing society are over."


	4. ill3gal 0p3rati0n

Mr. Robot is back. I let him in late last night when he kept knocking and I couldn't sleep. He slept in the spare room. This morning he's berating me over my decision to play along with Phil Couslon's plan.

This continued even after I went to a nearby McDonald's to grab a bite to eat. He followed me everywhere.

By the way, I never cook my own meals. I tried it before, but it just won't work. I don't have the time or willpower to become a decent cook.

Isn't that what McDonald's breakfasts are for?

Elliot looked up at the menu and sighed resignedly. "What do you want?"

"I don't want a McMuffin." Mr. Robot retorted. I want you to focus on the project. You can't fail me now. You're a link in the chain, a bit in the byte, a piece of the puzzle. I'm counting on you. Don't fail me now."

"Shut up." Elliot snapped. "You're not even real. I can make my own decisions."

Mr. Robot punched Elliot in the stomach and Elliot doubled over, shocked and winded. "Does it matter how real I am? I am part of your life, Elliot, whether you like it or not. I am not leaving."

"I don't care what you want me to do." Elliot flung back. "I can choose my own path." Elliot left the restaurant and looked behind him. Thankfully, Mr. Robot decided to give up the chase. Thank goodness he's gone.

"I'm not gone." Mr. Robot's voice rang through Elliot's head. I told you. He won't leave me alone.

Elliot strolled into Ed's Coffee and ordered his coffee, then took a seat and whipped out his smartphone. This isn't my only phone; this is my Nexus 5 running nethunter, a Kali Linux distro. I have a couple other phones: a Samsung Galaxy S5 and an iPhone 6 Plus. This is my favorite one though.

He unlocked his phone and browsed to the fsociety IRC at the normal IP address, . I'm going to call the whole operation off. It can't work.

It's not that it's too ambitious. It's ambitious, but all hacking is ambitious.

To be honest, I don't have the mental strength to lead fsociety. Maybe you could tell.

Maybe I should give into the system. Conform. Live a "normal" life. It hasn't killed anybody yet.

Yet I know I can't do that to its full extent with Mr. Robot in my life.

I know what you're thinking; Mr. Robot's not even real. But he can control me! He not only lets me do things I could never do otherwise.

He makes me.

Elliot blinked rapidly and raised his head. He saw a young man in dreds sitting across him, smoking a cigarette.

"Yo, dude, You fell asleep." The man said. "You should get your coffee, man."

Elliot wordlessly and dazedly got up, plodded over the counter, picked up his coffee (it's already started to cool off) and sat back down again. This is Leon. He's my friend.

"You okay?" Leon asked.

Elliot nodded nervously and gulped down a massive swallow of hot coffee. The scalding drink warmed Elliot and the caffeine kicked in.

I need to check the IRC.

Elliot woke his phone again and logged into the IRC. Darlene's already online. I'm surprised she's the only member of fsociety here.

[10:43] samsepi0l: I'm cancelling our plan. Too risky.

[10:43] D0loresH4ze: That's fine. I was wondering if you were all right; you didn't look 100%.

At least Darlene's not mad at me. She carries a lot of weight in fsociety. In some aspects of the group she's more invested in it that I am.

[10:44] samsepi0l: I'm okay. I just need to take a break.

[10:44] D0loresH4ze: WDYM?

[10:44] samsepi0l: From fsociety. I'm feeling burnt out.

[10:45] D0loresH4ze: All right, but we have to talk.

[10:45] samsepi0l: Why? What about?

[10:45] D0loresH4ze: Can't say.

We're caught. We have to be. There's no other reason why she wouldn't talk to me on an obscure IRC channel on a secured server.

A notification popped up on Elliot's phone from the app K3b0x. It read:

Uplink of device S.H.I.E.L.D SP 1093442 complete. Ready to deploy.

Let's go home. There's a lot of work to do.

* * *

Eliot sank down into his chair and logged back onto his desktop.

My virus of Phil's smartphone finished running, at least in its active mode. Now, everything Phil does on his phone I can see. Every setting he has I can access. I have all his files, his passwords, and his network connection.

And yet . . .

"Elliot!" A voice called out of the bathroom. "Don't think about it."

It's Mr. Robot again.

"Think about what?" Elliot asked.

"Destroying S.H.I.E.L.D." Mr. Robot replied, emerging from the bathroom with wet hands. "Our cause is hopeless."

Elliot looked at Mr. Robot as he approached him. "What are you talking about? Eyes have been opened. The people are-"

"The people are blind, Elliot." Mr. Robot shot back with some irritation. "Have you tried to open the eyes of a blind man?"

"We had hundreds, maybe thousands of followers, cheering us in the streets." Elliot was angry now. He stood up. "You want me to throw all that away for what? So some government bigwig can let me play with shiny toys?"

"Elliot!" Mr. Robot shouted. "We didn't win! We did everything we wanted to do and what do we have to show for it? Impeding incrimination. Elliot, even if you disagree with me, you are being welcomed into the belly of the beast! You've railed against the government without knowing who they are. But now, now we have the chance. Seize the opportunity, Elliot!"

"You dragged me into this." Elliot replied. "All of a sudden you want to back out? Why?"

"It's not a matter of backing out." Mr. Robot answered. "Imagine the havoc you could wreak. You're on the verge of something bigger than the takedown of Evil Corp. Destroying that phone won't do anything. But rising through the ranks, digging your tentacles deeper into the technology, the data, the heart and soul of the American government? That is an opportunity worth waiting for."

Elliot sat back down and sighed. "Okay. You're right."

No he's not. But if he thinks I'm going along with his little plan then he won't bother me about not destroying the government.

Elliot logged into Keybox Client. I can control and emulate his phone from here. I require a special 25 character code to get in for security. I'll emulate his phone so I can see what he was doing at the time without risk of being tracked.

Elliot double-clicked a smartphone icon and a screen simulating Phil's phone at the time of the hack.

Elliot was surprised with what he found. "There's not much here." He said. "Mostly calls and emails."

"Dig deeper." Mr. Robot challenged him. He leaned closer. "Maybe there's something interesting in Phil's emails."

Elliot clicked the email app, and tons of emails showed up on the screen.

Mr. Robot painted at a part of the screen. "What's that?"

Elliot opened the email.

email

From: Chickadee

To: Robot Hand

Subject: Re: Recruiting EA

I say we bring him in. I was much more of a risk when you brought me in, and you believed in me. BTW he's not part of RT. I checked my contacts.

/email

"Who are Robot Hand and Chickadee?" Elliot asked curiously.

"They must be spoofing their sender name." Mr. Robot deduced. "If they spoofed the addresses, replied would be sent to the wrong people. Robot Hand must be Phil, but I wonder who Chickadee . . . " Mr. Robot stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Do you think Phil knew I was going to hack him and altered his data? He could likely have classified data on his hands.

"See if you can find emails on Tyrell or Evil Corp."

"If they're not altered . . . " Elliot searched for Tyrell Wellick and Evil Corp. He didn't find any emails mentioning Tyrell Wellick but he did find the emails referencing Evil Corp. He clicked the first one.

email

From: Felt Hair

To: Robot Hand

Cc:groupThe People/group

Subject: Latest Evil Corp Dig

Looks like Evil Corp. aren't squeaky clean after all. I'll brief Level Reds later, but I'd like to keep track of them. Most notable, they send extremely sophisticated tech to Ruth, QTra & Latty. The leak of 1993 may have been intentional.

/email

Please tell me you're seeing this too.


	5. di5c0v3rabl3

Elliot sat down on his bed and heaved a huge sigh. After a while of sitting motionless for a while, he lit himself a cigarette and stepped outside to take a walk. The sky, which was partly cloudy, was now overcast. Fitting.

I'll have you know I don't usually smoke. Actually, I only smoke with Shayla. In fact, this one of her cigarettes she'd left at my house by accident. They're kind of special. I use them sparingly.

But this is one of those days.

Elliot walked out onto the boardwalk. Being too chilly and looking like it was about to rain, no one was around. Pigeons and seagulls roamed the beach, looking for a little something to eat.

It's quite a shock to find out the toxic gas leak that killed your own father may have been intentional. And it wasn't just my father who got killed; my best friend Angela's father was killed in the leak.

That settles it. I'm joining S.H.I.E.L.D. I have to know what happened to Edward Alderson.

Elliot looked up and, feeling drizzle on his head, headed home.

* * *

Elliot walked down the sidewalk, headed toward his house. Town houses lined the side of the street. Elliot glanced at a house next to his. That's Shayla's house. Nobody's bought it yet. He kept going and saw a man with jet-black hair and slight worry lines wearing jeans and a leather jacket. I have no idea who that is.

Do you know who that is? Have you seen him?

You know, a year ago I had a feeling that the people from the top were following me.

I was right.

"Can I help you?" Elliot asked the man who was standing in from of Elliot's house.

"Yes." The man said, menacingly. "I think you can help me."

"What do you want from me?" I'm afraid to ask. "Are you an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D too?"

"I'm Agent Grant Ward. I'm with a group seeking to protect the world from those who have too much power and don't know what to do with it. We want you."

"I'm not interested, man." Elliot tried to walk past Grant. "I don't want to be a part of anything dangerous."

Grant grabbed Elliot roughly by the collar. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen up," He snarled. "We know everything about you. Everything you've done with fsociety, Iron Mountain, Evil Corp., you name it. Sure, you busted Ron, but that won't keep you from jail time." He released Elliot. "Think about it."

Elliot cut Grant Ward a look and stalked into his house.

Not only am I being followed, tracked, I'm also being blackmailed. I know Grant Ward isn't with S.H.I.E.L.D. He's no G man. A G man would don a tidy tux, flash a phony smile and throw you empty promises. He wouldn't wear a leather jacket or rough you up.

Right?

I need to contact Phil.

Elliot sat down at his desktop and logged onto the IRC, then pulled out his phone and texted Phil:

Pwned ur phone. . ID: G_man. Channel: back_r00m.

Elliot soon saw Phil logged onto the IRC.

[14:22] samsepi0l: I accept your offer. What do I do now?

[14:22] G_man: Stay home. I will stop by and let you know what you need to do next. Congrats & GL!

* [14:23] G_man has left the chat.

I'm going to Ed's Coffee, and drink my cup this time.

* * *

Elliot walked into Ed's Coffee and was about to take a seat when Ed hailed him.

"You okay?" Ed asked. "It looked like you were coming down with something."

"Yeah.-it's nothing." Elliot shrugged it off. "I took some pills. They help."

"Yeah, I usually take Tamiflu." Ed replied. "I get the shots every year and I STILL get sick EVERY WINTER! I remember, last year, I was back-"

Elliot zoned out as Ed droned on and on. I don't understand this. No one cares about your little story. People LOVE to tell stories, and usually it's not nearly as interesting or funny as the storyteller thinks.

That's different that you and me. You WANT to read my story. If not, why are you reading it? Maybe you lost interest, but the why are you reading this sentence? Or this one? Or this one?

Because you want to know what happens next. Ed, he's just a man wasting my time when I could be-

Elliot's eyes locked onto what looked like a Raspberry Pi plugged inconspicuously into and AC plug in the wall under a table by the wall. Does Ed know about that PC? What's it doing here?

Elliot looked back at Ed as he wrapped up his tale.

"...and I felt better in the morning! I'm surprised it worked and it hasn't worked since."

Elliot nodded. "I'll have to try it sometime."

Ed peeked around Elliot and noticed a small line had grown while he was talking. "Well, I have some customers to serve. What'll it be? The usual?"

Elliot nodded and pulled out a Shift Card and payed for his drink as well as the one he left without paying for. This Shift Card lets me buy stuff with my Shift online back account, which stores your money with coin.

What, you thought I kept my money in the Bank of E? Fat chance.

Elliot sat down at one of the tables, set the backpack on the ground and pulled out his laptop. He typed the IP address of the Wi-Fi network and entered the credentials. I'm very familiar with this network. I hacked it before and busted the original owner for doing some questionable things. He looked at all the devices that were connected to the Wi-Fi. There were five. Elliot looked around and saw three people who were staring at their smartphones. I'm going to have to find out which one is that Raspberry Pi machine.

Elliot ran his Windows 7 virtual machine and ran the script "display-computers-status-and-info-with-Gui." This lets me see, among other things, the OS of whatever device I ping. A smartphone would have a higher chance of running iOS or Android than running Windows or Linux.

Elliot pinged the devices and found the right one: RPI850-SERV was running Windows 7. He noticed it was downloading a lot of data, so he slipped in the Windows version of his virus K3yb0x. Soon we'll see what that PC is up to.

"Elliot!"

Elliot looked up and saw that his coffee was ready.

* * *

Coulson sat in a chair in his team's secret base. He had his phone in his hand and Daisy was at his side.

"What do you think?" Coulson asked.

Daisy shrugged. "I dunno."

"By all accounts he's a Socialist cyberterrorist." Coulson got up and paced the room.

"Or, he could just be trying to find closure for his father's death." Daisy countered. "Maybe he's trying to squeeze evidence of wrongdoing out of Evil Corp."

"True." Coulson paused and folded his arms. "Or, he could be crazy." He kept pacing. "The point is, he's so powerful we can't risk having him against us. We could recruit all of DedSec and lose a cyberbattle with Elliot's little. 'fsociety.'"

"Inviting him to hack us may have been a little bold." Daisy replied. "He could destroy all of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"That's where-"

"You're wrong."

Two British tech scientists walked in. The woman wore a gray suit coat above a black dress shirt along with a pair of blue jeans, while the man wore a heavy dark-brown jacket over a tie and light-blue dress shirt, as well as black jeans. Both had blown hair, although only the man's hair was curly.

"Coulson told us about his plan," the man began.

"So we took precautions." The woman finished.

"We isolated the local networks-"

"Preventing Elliot from penetrating S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network."

"Now Elliot can't hack the classified data we store."

Daisy smiled. "Wow, are you FitzSimmons or are you Fitz and Simmons?" she said, indicating the man and the woman.

Fitz and Simmons looked at each other, Fitz' face a perfect deadpan while a small smile peeked about the corners of Simmons' mouth.

"I think . . . " Fitz began.

"Both." Simmons said, and they both looked back at Daisy and Coulson.

"Yeah." Fitz said.

"Team." A tall woman in a black catsuit came into the room.

Coulson perked up. "What is it, May?"

"Fury wants to talk." She replied.


	6. crack1ng

It was 2:31 A.M.. Elliot gulped an entire Five Hour Energy in one drought. No, that cheap coffee didn't last me this long. I drank three of these already. I only drink Ed's coffee so I don't get kicked out of the place for squatting. It isn't exactly McDonalds, but you never know what might happen. This country isn't free anymore.

I already hacked that RPi. It was downloading pirated movies on the high-speed WiFi. That's video piracy.

That's just the crime. Do I have a criminal?

Elliot dug into the C drive. There's nothing here. Elliot looked at all the programs running and found the one downloading the pirated files. Interesting. That's a .JAR file, meaning I can look at the code behind the software. You may wonder why I would do that. Well, programmers often leave behind things called comments, and sometimes they'll leave info about who they are. Not license plates or SSNs, but little things like Reddit and GitHub usernames.

Elliot opened the code and looked at the first lines of code.

/*

*I got you.

*/

What in the world? That's kinda weird. Nobody writes anything like this in coding comments.

Elliot closed out the virtual machine. If there's no trace of ID there, there's no ID anywhere. Suddenly, a noise came out of the computer. It was the voice of a man. It laughed and said "Be careful. I'm watching you."

Elliot leaped up and stepped back. I've been hacked. I was right. They were after me. They did this. Elliot ripped out the power cable, took out the hard drive and drove through it with a drill. Then he tossed it into the trash can, went to the closet, took out a hard drive from a cardboard box labeled backups and put it in the PC. That's from this evening. It should still have the Phil Coulson files on it. He plugged the computer in and booted it back up. Once he double-checked that the computer was hack-free he shut off the monitor. I need to call it a night.

* * *

Elliot awoke to four masked men dragging him out of bed. They were each grasping one of Elliot's limbs and carried him out the house. They hauled him into a black Chevy van. The men got inside and one of them took the wheel and drove off.

Elliot flailed his arms wildly. "Let me go!" he shouted.

One of the men stuck Elliot with a needle. Elliot slumped to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

A woman with blonde, straight hair walked by rows and rows of cubicles, glancing at them casually. Nearly all had a man or woman sitting at the desk, typing an email, checking CinemaScope, wrapping up that funny YouTube video, prepping for a meeting. Then she halted, and the sound of her black high heels thumping down on the carpet floor silenced as she noticed the cube at the corner was empty. She pulled her phone out of her wallet and pressed a button. It was 8:11 A.M.. She went to her contacts list and tapped on a name of the list. She sat down at her cube as she waited for an answer. After a while the voicemail beeped.

"Hi Elliot," the woman said. "It's Angela. I'm just checking to see if you're doing all right. Call me back."

* * *

May skillfully landed the official jet of Coulson's team on the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier and they disembarked together. They began walking toward a circular area of the helicarrier's concrete pavement.

"So, why does Nick Fury want to see us again?" Daisy asked.

"He doesn't say beforehand, silly." Simmons smiled.

"That would pose a massive security risk." Fitz said.

Daisy laughed. "I mean, it's not like we have a bunch of moles sitting in S.H.I.E.L.D, I mean come on, that's . . . " She trailed off as she noticed everyone staring at her. "What?"

"Don't you think there are at least some moles in S.H.I.E.L.D?" Fitz asked.

"No agency is completely airtight." Simmons added.

"Okay," Daisy compromised. "Maybe there are a few moles."

"Shall we carry on?" Simmons stepped on the platform and the team followed. They each stepped up to the computer in turn and let it scan their irises and S.H.I.E.L.D ID badges. Recognizing that Coulson had level seven clearance, the computer gave the team the option of going to more restricted areas of the mammoth aircraft. Coulson pressed a button on the computer and the platform lowered into the belly of the helicarrier. Once it reached the first floor, it halted and they stepped off and walked into the room, which was teeming with dozens of dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D agents either walking to and from meetings and assignments sitting at a cubicle of looking at the clouds below through the massive windows.

One of the bustling agents, recognizing Coulson, hailed him. "Coulson, Director Fury wants to see you. Meeting Room 5B."

"Thanks." Coulson replied. "Follow me, team."

They followed Coulson to a door that led to a hallway. Directly to their right was the meeting room, and the team went in. A bald eye-patched man was already there, obviously waiting for them.

"Director Fury, sir?" Coulson asked as the door swung shut silently behind him. The rest of the team took a seat at the desk. "You wanted to speak to us?"

"I do." Fury replied. He lifted the remote from the table and hit a button. A man's image appeared on the screen. "This is Elliot Alderson, correct?"

Coulson nodded assent. "Yes sir."

"As you know, we've been conducting extensive internal and external surveillance of his house for close to a year and a half. Early this morning our intel shows that he was abducted by masked men.

Coulson, your priority number one is to extract this man and bring him here ASAP. He needs to be under intense protection at all times, do you understand me, Coulson?"

"Yes sir." Coulson answered.

* * *

Elliot sat in a completely dark room. As he woke up, he realized that a hood was covering his head and he was bound to a chair.

You probably know that I've often said that control is an illusion. I was wrong. Political control is an illusion. Let me explain.

The government pipe-feeds you propaganda. From CNN & MSNBC to Fox News. From NPR & CBS Radio News to Cumulus. From the Washington Post and the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal. Republicans & Democrats are all the same! They think they control us. But they don't. They merely influence us.

Does influence equal control? Perhaps. In the old 1938 Technicolor classic, it was said of Robin Hood, "You know that he could lift a single finger and all of Normandy would rise up." However, MSNBC could tell you to breathe less to save trees and relatively few of the viewers would do so. Why?

Both are cases of influence. The Normans were beaten and oppressed and they know it was the Saxon rulers' fault. Robin Hood only convinced them to fight back. The MSNBC viewer, as opposed to the oppressed Norman, isn't willing to risk his or her life for the cause, in this case, saving trees.

All right. I'll end the facade. I'll stop rambling. You know I want to get out of here.

"Hellooo!" Elliot bellowed. "Heeelp! Get me ouuut of heeere!"

"He must be awake." A muffled voice from another room said.

Elliot heard footfalls, and then the hood was roughly pulled off his face. His eyes widened and he began hyperventilating slightly, as he wasn't expecting the hood to be pulled off so suddenly. He looked up to see who pulled off the hood, and was shocked to see who was before him. "Grant Ward?"

"In the flesh." Grant Ward said, then glanced around. "Unlike Mr. Robot."

"How do you know about him?" Elliot asked.

"That's a secret. But," Grant Ward changed the subject. "That's not why you're here."

Elliot was furious. "I'm here because certain evildoers dragged me out of my bed and gave me the Baracus treatment."

Grant Ward's eyebrows rose slightly. "Have you made a decision? Whose side are you on?"

"Yes." Elliot looked at Grant. "S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Take him away!" The voice from the other room cried, and another man Elliot couldn't see shot a sedative into Elliot's back. He instantly went limp as he blacked out.

* * *

Coulson's team was behind the warehouse. The sun was just beginning to show, but it was a still very dark. Daisy handed a tablet to Simmons.

"Okay, so we got three on the inside, one on the outside. There's also a black van they could use as a getaway car." Daisy told Coulson.

Coulson nodded, indicating that he heard her. "Okay team. I want Fitz to disable the getaway car. I'll take the front. Skye," he turned to Daisy. "I want you and Simmons to take the back. The Cavalry's keeping the Iliad on so we can make a quick escape. Let's move." Coulson trod stealthily down the side of the warehouse.

"Be careful." Simmons told Fitz.

Fitz nodded. "You too." He hurried off to the getaway car, hugging his satchel to keep it from making too much noise as it bounced up and down.

"So," Daisy asked Simmons. "What do we do?"

"We wait for someone to attempt to escape out the back way-this door." Simmons pointed at the door they were standing in front of. "And we render them unconscious."

* * *

Elliot woke up in a well-lit room and was nearly blinded by the light. When his eyes became accustomed to the light, all he saw were sky and sunshine. He realized he was looking out a window and looked down to check out the landscape to get an idea of where he was.

He was shocked to find a landscape of clouds. He leapt off the bed and looked around at the room he was in. It had an expensive-looking hardwood floor underneath similarly expensive-looking desks and tables, and a fancy lamp. There was also a small cooler. Elliot opened it, and saw that it was filled to the brim with alcoholic beverages. He closed it. Wait a minute. He whipped out his phone and went to the Google Maps app. It showed that Elliot was moving at a rapid speed across the ocean.

Please tell me you're seeing this too.

Elliot's eye fell upon the door and he saw it had a digital numpad. I have an idea.

Elliot inspected the device. Just as I thought. It's a retail lock. It requires certain protocols that hold the current password. It's all for security's sake, but if you know how to get in, cracking it's a piece of cake.

Elliot went on his phone, hacked his way into the WiFi, found the IP address of the numpad (it was synced to the security servers via WiFi), hacked the credentials and edited the password. He then calmly went to the numpad, pressed 0 and opened the door.

He found himself in what seemed to be an open-floor plan-style airplane cabin. The wings could be easily seen through the windows. Comfy couches were on both sides of the couch, three people sitting on both. All were staring at him. One was Coulson, who was flanked by two women, one on each side. One was a thinner, older looking woman. She has eyes as cold as ice and sharp as glass. She's burning with interest in what I've been doing, but she hides it under a mask of harshness. The other one was pretty and had jet-black hair, although she wasn't as petite and the older woman. She also is curious, wondering about fsociety.

They're g-men alright.

He heard a British man murmur "whoa." Elliot looked at the other side of the room and saw a young British man covering his mouth in shock. A blonde woman sat next to him. She is obviously impressed.

"What?" Elliot shrugged.

The man with curly hair scoffed and looked out the window in response. " I'm Fitz, by the way."

"Elliot." He introduced himself. "Just a tech."

"It takes more than a tech to do what you do." Fitz said.

"Coulson said you were better than all of DedSec combined." The woman said.

Elliot looked at Coulson, amazed. "Really?"

Coulson nodded. "As Fitz himself said . . . " He trailed off, at a loss for words. "What did you say?"

"All DedSec does is exploit the interconnectedness of ctOS." Fitz said. "And that ctOS is practically a Linux distro." He added dismissively.

"Wait," Elliot said. "Why am I here?"

"Grant Ward, a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D agent, was secretly working for Hydra, a secret organization intent of world domination." Coulson said. "They have several bases across the world."

"Isn't one in California?" Mr. Robot, who was sitting next to Fitz, stood up. Elliot looked at him but didn't say anything.

Coulson raised an eyebrow. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"I know what they're up to." Mr. Robot answered. "Do you have a laptop?"

"I have one you can use." The British woman volunteered.

"Go get it, Simmons." Coulson said. "Tell us more. What does Hydra have planned?"

"A couple years ago, a couple of Redditors vanished mysteriously within a week of each other after talking strangely about this thing called Hydra. One was a programmer and the other was a conspiracy theorist, but both there from California."

"Here you go." Simmons walked in with a laptop and gave it to Mr. Robot. He sat back down and typed in his IP address and password. He then downloaded a link from the server page.

"What are you doing?" Fitz asked.

"I'm remoting into a computer that has all the proof of everything that I know about Hydra's plan." The file downloaded. He opened it and logged onto his computer. "The Redditors' accounts have been taken down, but I archive all their posts. Here's one by tyrus_thevirus:

 _The company acquisition results in all IT, cybersecurity and software engineering being fired? Be theres something they dont want anyone to know that only the IT crew could figure out. Reeks of hydra. thetruthisoutthere has been talking about this for a while_

thetruthisoutthere had made a post earlier saying this:

 _Wow, just found something HUGE with massive ramifications and hard evidence to back it up._

 _there's a group out there called Hydra that wants to rule the world. First they will begin in California. You see this in things like Common Core and ctOS, both of which they want wold-wide implimentation of. Common Core is a way for Hydra to see who's being profitable to society or who poses a threat to them. In ctOS is a way for Hydra to target and/or kill people of their choosing. This has already began testing._

 _I hate to leave. but I have much more. Check out WikiLeaks tomorrow!_

All traces of these people mysteriously vanished."

* * *

Tyrell Wellick, CTO of Evil Corp., called Gideon Goddard, the CEO.

"Uh, hey, do you know where Elliot is?" Tyrell asked. "I haven't been able to get a hold of him all morning." He paused. "No, it's alright. Sorry I bothered you." He hung up. He quickly dialed another number. "This is chief. Variable is now wild card."

* * *

Angela walked into a Panera Bread and went to the far corner. A dark blue-haired woman with green eyes was already there.

"Sorry, are you sitting here?" Angela asked.

The woman motioned toward the chair. "Be my guest."

Angela sat across from her. "I don't think you mentioned your name over the phone." She said meaningly.

"You can call me Amy." The woman said.

"Well, Amy, what's all this about?"

"I know all about fsociety."

"Shhh!" Angela looked around. "How much do you know?"


	7. b1gl1ttl3

Elliot, Mr. Robot and Coulson's team stepped off the airport and walked down the runway.

"So why does the Director need to see me?" Elliot squinted in the sunlight.

"He wants to meet you before you become a 'confirmed' S.H.I.E.L.D agent." Coulson said.

They walked to the platform and went to a meeting room. The team stopped at the door. Elliot and Mr. Robot turned around.

"Come on." Elliot said.

Coulson shook his head. "This is your moment. You're gonna make a great agent."

Elliot hesitated.

"He won't hurt you." Simmons said.

Elliot looked at Mr. Robot.

"Relax," Mr. Robot told him. "This is his moment of truth, not yours."

"After you." Elliot said.

Mr. Robot went in the room. "Well?" He sat down and tossed his hat on the table. "What's your name?"

The bald eye-patched man on the other side of the desk looked around the room, muttered, sighed and looked back at Mr. Robot. "I am Nick Fury. Director Nicholas Fury. Don't you ever talk to me like that."

Mr. Robot shrugged dismissively.

"Let's get this over with." Fury said. "I'm giving you a chance to be part of the greatest war against all evil. All government entities are inept compared to us. Even you would agree that the FBI should have picked up on the Evil Corp. after that chemical leak that so happened to occur within three months of the arrival on the Kree and the Skrulls."

"Who are the Kree and the Skrulls?" Mr. Robot asked incredulously.

"They're aliens who don't like each other. The point is, we think Evil Corp. is co-operating with aliens to take over the world."

"Really?" Mr. Robot asked. "Prove that aliens are really and I might consider helping you."

"Daisy!" Nick Fury motioned for Skye to enter the room. "Daisy Johnson is an Inhuman, part alien and part human. Show him your . . . mental prowess."

Elliot looked confused. Why am I sitting where Mr. Robot was sitting? He looked through the glass wall. Mr. Robot smiled and waved at Elliot through the glass. I'm back, but why? He must have taken over just-

I wish Shayla never died.

I have a lot of regrets. I'm two steps from huge trouble and I chose it all.

Why am I thinking about this?

What's he saying?

"Daisy! Stop!" Nick Fury ordered. "Elliot, are you alright?"

"Sure." Elliot shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you suddenly looked surprised, then very sad, then very angry."

"I'm sorry," Skye said. "It's my fault. I'm not finished mastering my powers yet."

"You see, Elliot," Fury said. "Aliens are very real."

"Of course." Elliot replied. "What's your name?"

"I don't have time for this." Fury muttered under his breath. He pressed his earpiece. "Get a security team here and escort Elliot to the Medical Bay. Let me know when he's able to talk. I have rogues to deal with." He added.

Instantly armed guards entered the room and surrounded Elliot. They were heavily armed and wore helmets with veiled facemasks as well as gloves.

This isn't good. They're going to lock me up for all the work I've done.

"Elliot!" Mr. Robot called out to Elliot. "Go with them."

"And why would I do that?" Elliot shot back.

"They won't hurt you. They need you. Trust them. They first trusted you."

Elliot looked around. Coulson's team was shooting glances at each other. The security guards hesitated. Nick Fury raised an eyebrow.

They know I'm talking to myself. I know it too. But I need to talk to him. I was Mr. Robot for the whole meeting.

They're all going to think I'm crazy aren't they?

They'll be right.

"Who are you talking to?" Fury asked.

"It's a long story." Elliot answered.

* * *

Tyrell Wellick checked the time and saw that he still had time before his meeting. He went on his smartphone and called a number.

"Hello?" He said.

The person at the other end answered.

"Look, as long as I get the CTO position I'm happy."

The person on the other end answered.

"Hold up your end of the deal!" Tyrell was livid. "Destroy fsociety if you want, but you bail on me, and I bail on you."

The person on the other end answered.

Tyrell froze, fear spreading across his face. "If . . . you . . . dare-You dirty . . . " he hung up angrily.

* * *

"How much do you know?" Angela's food remained completely uneaten. Amy casually devoured her lunch.

"All of it." Amy replied. She wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'm from the Dark Army, by the way."

Angela heaved a sigh of relief. "I was wondering when a contact would get to me." She felt free to eat the cookie. "What's up?"

"Things are getting too hot." Amy said.

Angela's chewing slowed. "Exactly how hot?"

"Hot enough that Elliot's gone to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Angela's eyes widened. "No."

Amy sipped her ice cold water. "You know what this means, right?"

Angela nodded solemnly.

"You knew the risk." Amy said.

"FREEZE!" Coulson lead his team into the Panera Bread chain. "NOBODY MOVE!"

"Come on," Amy said. "Let's take the back way." She ran toward the back.

Angela remained motionless.

Amy turned and saw that Angela wasn't budging. She pulled out a pistol. "Don't make to kill you."

A gunshot rang out and the glass shattered as a sniper shot Amy. She crumpled to the ground and remained motionless.

"Let's get them out of here." Coulson said.

* * *

A nurse led Elliot into his hospital room.

"Dr. Shoemaker will be back with a diagnosis and prescription in ten minutes." The nurse said. She left.

I could never make it out of here alive. You know that right? But I could also be protected.

I just need to tie up some loose ends.

Elliot took out his phone but noticed someone calling him. The phone number was (519) 895-2789. Why do I feel like I need to answer this call? I don't remember this phone number, but I have a feeling I know who it is, and I think you know, too.

Elliot answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Elliot!" Just as I thought. It's Mr. Robot. "We need to talk sometime."

"No, you need to leave me alone."

"Come on, son." Mr. Robot's voice sounded panicky. "I won't talk for long. Meet me at-"

Mr. Robot's voice was cut off and, after a full second, a woman's voice spoke through the phone.

"Thank you." She said. The call was dropped.

Please tell me you're hearing this too.

* * *

Mr. Robot sat in a dark room. A man who remained in the shadows spoke.

"Mike. Romeo. Romeo. Oscar. Bravo. Oscar. Tango."

Mr. Robot smirked. "You know I'm always ready to comply."


	8. h3ats1nk

Coulson and Melinda May stood before Amy, who was shackled to the table. They were in a S.H.I.E.L.D interrogation room.

"Let's make this easy for you." Coulson said. "You were conspiring to bring down a threat to not only the United States, but the humanity. Fill in the blanks."

Amy shrugged. "I don't know this story, it's a new one. I'll ask Marjan . . . "

"Cut it out." May snapped. "We don't have much time, so we need to make this quick. I can beat whatever you know out of you."

Amy remained sullenly silent.

Coulson glanced at May. "Not her. She's under Hydra mind control."

* * *

"Ah, yes." An old doctor with a heavy German accent walked into the room. "You must be the young man Adderson. I is Dr. Shoemaker, Dr. Heidrick Shoemaker."

"It's Alderson." Elliot said.

"Ah, Anderson! I-"

"Aaaaldersoon."

"Ah, yes. Alderson. I am sorry. I has a diagnosis for you mental condition. You has many things: clinical depression, social identity disorder and social anxiety disorder. You must treat these."

"Mental treatment?"

"Yes"

"I'm not a insane." Elliot said.

"Ah yes, I has have many patients say this many a time, many a time. Nonhowever, the rules of the S.H.I.E.L.D state clearly no employee may go for mental tratment out of permission of Fury."

"But I don't want to be treated." Elliot said.

"Ah yes, I has have many patients say this many a time, many a time. Nonhowever, if things is strictly between you and me only, the Fury tells me if you do not accept test, you shall be turned to FBI."

Please tell me you're hearing this too.

* * *

Angela was on her way back to work when she got a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Gideon. Are you okay? I just saw on the news that there was a shooting at Panera and I heard that you went there for lunch."

"I'm fine. I was just leaving."

"Great to hear it."

The phone made a noise and Angela glanced at the phone for a second. "I have to take this call. See you later." She accepted the call. "Hello?"

"Angela, I decided to leave fsociety permanently."

"Why?"

"Because I have a plan that will take out those actually responsible while leaving Evil Corp. and the economy as a whole unscathed."

"Why not just destroy the whole company? They were the ones responsible."

"Two reasons: first, everyone relies on them. They handle the money of the entire world. Plus, will it be worth it to destroy the lives of millions to avenge the deaths of our parents? An awesome book said an eye for an eye, not a head for an eye."

"This isn't a head for an eye, Elliot!" Angela's voice was husky. "This is their head for my heart."

Elliot waited a second before responding. "Sorry."

"No, no, that's alright." Her voice went back to normal. "What's the plan?"

"I'll tell you on the IRC."

* * *

Elliot hung up. He was back on the Iliad with Mr. Robot and Coulson's Team. "So what's the plan?"

"The FBI's got your house surrounded." Coulson replied.

"Why has the FBI surrounded my house?"

"We confiscated your hard rives and uploaded them to the Level 8 confirmation-protected sectors of the S.H.I.E.L.D database." May said. "We manipulated the data to make it look like you had incriminating evidence against Tyrell Wellick concerning the five/nine hack."

"You want to take out Tyrell?" Elliot asked.

"Not out," Coulson said. "Bring him to justice."

Maybe I've been wrong. Maybe our system isn't all that bad. If S.H.I.E.L.D wants to take down the bad guy, they can't be the bad guys.

But if our system isn't corrupted, doesn't that make me corrupted?

"Yes." Mr. Robot was leaning on the wall. "Don't look at me! Act like I'm not here."

"Elliot?" Fitz asked. "Elliot?!"

Elliot whipped his head in Fitz's direction to face him. "Yeah?"

"Are you alright?" Simmons asked. "Do you need to sit down?"

"Thanks." Elliot sat down. "I just-uh-am a little tired."

"It's been a long day, that's for sure." Daisy said.

"Um, right," Fitz said. "We need you to backup all the Evil Corp. computers to the S.H.I.E.L.D database."

"We have a script you might be able to use for this purpose."

"Deadpool used it."

"So it must be good."

"Is it decompiled?" Elliot asked.

"Yes." Fitz answered.

"You can edit the source code." Simmons continued.

"If you want." Fitz added.

"That's great." Elliot said. "Do you have a computer?"

"Oh, do we." Simmons smiled.

FitzSimmons and Elliot went into a well-lit room with glass walls and doors, filled with advanced tech tools.

"This is our lab." Fitz said.

"You mean it's just us and all these toys?" Elliot asked.

"Yep." Fitz said.

"Do you like it?" Simmons asked.

"I love it." Elliot said.

Fitz grabbed a laptop and gave it to Elliot. "Here's the computer. It has the script on it."

Elliot set the laptop on the counter and powered it on. A black and while silhouette of a man with wavy hair and sunglasses appeared on the screen. A computerized female voice said. "Loading."

"What OS is this?" Elliot asked.

"StarkOS 3.1" Simmons said.

"It's based on Ubuntu and features tons on emulation software." Fitz said.

"It's really cool."

"What, does it run WINE or something?" Elliot asked.

"That and a custom version of Darling called Starkling, among other things." Simmons said.

"StarkOS Loaded." The computer voice said.

"What's the password?" Elliot asked.

"Oh, you can go ahead and swipe your finger on the fingerprint sensor." Fitz said.

"We made you an account already." Simmons added.

That's right. This is the government; they have my fingerprint. Elliot nodded and swiped his finger and the laptop logged in.

"Are my IRC and FTP servers still up?" Elliot asked.

Fitz shook his head. "We backed them up too. The hardware's in the helicarrier."

"I need you to turn the servers back on and connect it to a DNS via Tor." Elliot said. "If fsociety notices the IRC went down, they could trace to new connection back to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Great idea." Simmons said. She pressed a button on the table and a hologram appeared. A woman in a power suit appeared on the hologram.

"Hi Jemma and Leo!" She said. "How are my favorite students?"

"We're doing well." Simmons said.

"We need your help." Fitz said.

"Elliot, this is Anne Weaver. Weaver, this is Elliot Alderson." Simmons said.

"Any friend of Jemma and Leo is a friend of mine." Weaver said. "Pleased to meet you."

Elliot nodded.

"What can I do for you three?" Weaver asked.

"Elliot wants to bring his IRC and FTP servers back up." Fitz said.

"And connect it through Tor to a DNS . . . " Simmons looked at Elliot. "What IP address did you want to use?"

" for the IRC and for the data server." Elliot said.

"You got that?" Fitz asked Weaver.

"Yep," Weaver replied. "Beemer probably has a spare agent or so who can do the job."

"Thanks." Fitz said. He pressed the button again and the image of Weaver disappeared. "The Batch file should be on the desktop."

Batch. Perfect. It's super simple. This should be quick. Elliot opened the file and it had the following code:

md \dp

copy c:\data\metadata \dp

He edited it and changed it to this:

md

copy c\ \ISOs\Extracted\%COMPUTERNAME%\

That should do the trick. I can get Angela to create a rootkit, hiding it from antivirus, and copy the script to every PC in the building via Group Policy. Every PC would copy its entire hard drive to my server.

This'll be amazing. Wait and see.

* * *

I didn't know that Leon did Uber, but there he was.

Leon was unhackable. There's nothing about him anywhere, not even on the Dark Web.

Elliot was standing on the sidewalk of Times Square, waiting for Leon. CNBC's Closing Bell was on one of the massive displays. Elliot squinted confusedly at the headline. He tried hard to tune out the music video blaring on the other side of the street. After several seconds, Elliot was able to understand what Kelly Evans was saying.

"...source confirming that Evil Corp. is in talks to acquire Allsafe Cybersecurity. Their stock has fallen 18 points today, which is their largest single-day stock market loss since 2008. The majority of Allsafe's business comes from Evil Corp., whose stocks have fallen nearly 60 points today. This comes . . . "

"Hey, YO!" Leon was waiting for Elliot in his old, beat-up convertible.

"Did you see that?" Elliot said as he sat down, putting his backpack in his lap.

"Yeah I did." Leon said. "By the way, Coulson forgot to mention: Scott Knowles was already arrested."

"Really?" Elliot asked.

"S.H.I.E.L.D don't mess around, bro." Leon said. "Well, we here."

Leon had stopped because the entire street was blocked by anti-Evil Corp. protesters. Many of the protesters wore fsociety's signature Guy Faux mask and held posters saying things like "We are finally free," "We are fsociety," "Money is dead" and "The revolution is here and now." Elliot stepped out the door, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Leon turned around and left. Elliot edged through the crowd and finally reached the Evil Corp. building.

He went through the double-glassed-door entrance and walked to the receptionist's desk. This is it. The end of Evil Corp. Their dream of world domination will be ruined. They have no control, only the idea that-

"May I help you, sir?" The blonde woman at the receptionist desk asked.

"Uh, yeah." Elliot said uncertainly. "Is Mr. Wellick in?"

"You want to see him?"

"Yeah."

She looked at a big white binder and scanned it quickly. Evil Corp. sure was quick to switch over to paper after the five/nine attack. Smart. But that-

"ame?" The woman said.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"I said, what is your name." She said deliberately.

"I'm Elliot." He answered. "Alderson."

The woman nodded. "Those security guards will escort you to his office." She waved three stone-faced men with suits and earpeices over. "Take Elliot to Mr. Wellick's office."

"Follow us, sir." The first one said as the guards made their way to the elevator.

Elliot followed them.

Mr. Robot was in the elevator, leaning against the wall. "About time." He stood up and started getting animated. "You realized what's happened? We've won! The revolution is over."

"Go away." Elliot said.

"Nah, I wanna see how this turns out."

"Stop messing with my mind." Elliot said.

"Careful what you wish for."

"Sir."

Elliot was staring at the wall. He looked at the guards.

"This way, please."

The guards went to the left with Elliot close behind. They stopped at one of the offices. One of the guards opened the door. "Sir?"

Tyrell looked up. "Elliot! What a pleasure. Sit down, make yourself at home. Please," he added, shooing away the guards.

Elliot closed the door behind himself and sat down.

"How are things going at work?" Tyrell asked.

Elliot shrugged. "As usual. Here?"

"Things are going splendidly. We're overhauling our networks and revamping our protocols. We just cut Allsafe loose, leaving you without a job."

"No," Elliot said. "You acquired Allsafe."

"You are a very perceptive person, Elliot," Tyrell stood up. "We have wonderful, wonderful plans in store, for both you and the world. You and I both know that we are on the brink of having the entire world under our control. You name a country, we're there. Africa relied on us for tech, we've solved the UKs licencing conundrums, and we have India in the palm in our hands. The last domain, the final frontier, is the United States. You can be part of this Elliot. You can be part of the new world we are creating." Tyrell shrugged. "Still, we don't have to keep you. You'll be jobless, unless you do one thing for me."

"No," Elliot said. "I will not be owned. You killed my father."

"I didn't-" Tyrell protested.

"Still," Elliot said. "I have good news and bad news."

"Do tell."

"I know it's not official, but you are now the CTO."

Tyrell stood up, shocked. "WHAT?"

"Scott Knowles just got arrested." Elliot said. "Who else could replace him?"

"Wow, this is just," Tyrell paced back and forth, beaming, then paused. "What's the bad news?"

"You're under arrest."

FBI agents burst into the room. They handcuffed Tyrell, and one of them led Elliot away.

"I'm Maria." The woman with short-cropped hair said. "Come with me."

Elliot followed her to the elevator. They went to the lobby.

"Get out." Maria said. "Quick! Marcus is waiting."

Elliot ran out and hopped in a car. As soon as Elliot closed the door, the man in the driver's seat hit the gas and they sped off.

"That was dope, man!" The driver said.

"What?" Elliot asked.

"All this." He replied. "Most the Evil Corp. execs were Skrulls."

"Who are you?"

"Oh, my bad, dude. I'm Marcus, the undercover ops sent to sneak you out."

"Wait, so you're-"

"Yeah, I'm Retr0."

"You hacked ctOS and ctOS 2."

"It's different and a bit less complex than the stuff you be dealing with. We deal with APIs mostly."

The car went silent. Then, Elliot got a call. The phone number was (516)-895-7789.


End file.
